Method, display system, and computer software for controlling icon appearance

ABSTRACT

A method, display system, computer software product for controlling an icon appearance are disclosed. A display controller of the display system displays an icon control window on a display screen of the display system for changing an icon appearance of the display system conveniently. The control window includes at least one sample icon for a user&#39;s preview, and the sample icon&#39;s appearance is automatically updated upon receiving inputs for a new icon appearance from a user. When the user is satisfied with the updated sample icon&#39;s appearance and enters an execution command, the display controller finally changes the icon appearance of the display system by changing corresponding display properties according to the user inputs.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application is a Continuation Application of U.S. application Ser.No. 10/675,969 filed Oct. 2, 2003, which claims priority from KoreanApplication No. P2002-66618, filed on Oct. 30, 2002, the subject mattersof which are incorporated herein by reference.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

The present invention relates to the display control, and moreparticularly, to a method, display system, and computer program productfor controlling an icon appearance.

2. Discussion of the Related Art

In general, personal computer (PC) systems are run by an operatingsystem (OS), which is software designed to control the hardware of aspecific data-processing system in order to allow users and applicationprograms to employ it easily. Some of the well-known operating systemsare Windows-based operating systems (e.g., Windows 98 and Windows XP forPCs) that provide a graphical operating environment for PC users andhave multitasking capabilities.

The Windows-based PC users may interact with the computer systemsthrough a Graphic User Interface (GUI), which includes windows, scrollbars, icons, buttons, and many others. The icons are visualrepresentations of programs, documents, sound files, image files, andcommands. For example, PC users may open an image file by selecting orclicking an icon representing the image file without memorizing andmanually entering the required commands for opening the file into thecomputer system. For this reason, icons play a crucially important rolein the GUI environment for the Windows-based PC systems.

PC users often wish to adjust the appearance (e.g., size) of the iconsin the GUI for clearly understanding what each icon represents or forhis or her individual preference. For example, when the icons displayedon a high-resolution screen are too small, the users may not be able toeasily recognize what each icon represents. The existing manner ofchanging or adjusting the appearance of the icons involves quite complexprocesses. For example, if a user wishes to change the size of the iconsin a computer system run by Windows XP, the user initially opens thecontrol panel, select Display Properties option located within thecontrol panel, and selects the Appearance menu. In this menu, the useris able to select a desired icon size, an icon font type, and a fontsize. In addition, the user may select horizontal and vertical distancesamong the icons. When the user makes all the icon-related selections inthe Appearance menu and presses the Apply button, all the iconsdisplayed on the monitor screen are resized according to the selectionsmade by the user in the Appearance menu. If the user is not satisfiedwith the arrangement or sizes of the icons displayed on the screen, heor she must repeat the above process until the graphical configurationof the icons is satisfactory and this may put many PC users to a greatdeal of inconvenience.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

Accordingly, the present invention is directed to a method, displaysystem, and computer program for controlling icons that substantiallyobviates one or more problems due to limitations and disadvantages ofthe related art.

An object of the present invention is to provide a method, displaysystem, and computer program for conveniently controlling an iconappearance by providing an icon control window in a Window-basedcomputer system.

Additional advantages, objects, and features of the invention will beset forth in part in the description which follows and in part willbecome apparent to those having ordinary skill in the art uponexamination of the following or may be learned from practice of theinvention. The objectives and other advantages of the invention may berealized and attained by the structure particularly pointed out in thewritten description and claims hereof as well as the appended drawings.

To achieve these objects and other advantages and in accordance with thepurpose of the invention, as embodied and broadly described herein, amethod of controlling an icon appearance of a display system having adisplay system is provided. The method includes the steps of backing updisplay properties of the display system, which are originally set foran original appearance, and displaying an icon control window on thedisplay screen that includes at least one sample icon for a user'spreview. The method further includes the steps of changing the sampleicon's appearance according to inputs for a new icon appearance receivedfrom a user through the icon control window. The user inputs include atleast one of an icon size, vertical icon spacing, horizontal spacing,icon font size, and icon font type. Finally, the icon appearance of thedisplay system may be changed by changing the display properties of thedisplay system according to the user inputs.

The icon control window displayed on the display screen may include anicon size controller, a preview region, and an execution controller. Theicon size controller provides a plurality of selectable icon sizes forthe user to be able to select a desired icon size from the selectableicon sizes. The preview region includes the sample icon, which isautomatically resized when the user selects the desired icon size. Theexecution controller of the control window interfaces with the displaysystem for changing an icon size of the display system according to theselected icon size.

Alternatively, the icon control window may include a plurality of manualinput controllers for manually receiving the inputs for a new iconappearance, a preview region including the sample icon whose appearancegets automatically changed according to the manual inputs, and anexecution controller interfacing with the display system for changingthe display properties according to the manually received user inputs.

In another aspect of the present invention, a display system forconveniently changing an icon appearance is provided. The display systemincludes a memory, a display unit having a display screen, and a displaycontroller coupled to the memory and the display unit. The displaycontroller initially stores display properties of the display system inthe memory, and it displays an icon control window including at leastone sample icon on the display screen when a request is received from auser. Next, when inputs for a new icon appearance are received from theuser, the controller initially changes the sample icon's appearanceaccording to the received inputs for a preview. Finally, the controlsystem changes an icon appearance of the display system by updating thedisplay properties according to the user inputs.

In another aspect of the present invention, a computer software productfor controlling an icon appearance of a display system having a displayscreen is provided. The software product includes a computer-readablemedium storing program code for changing the icon appearance of thedisplay system. When executed by a display controller, the program codecauses the display controller to perform the steps of backing up displayproperties of the display system, displaying an icon control windowincluding at least one sample icon on the display screen for a user'spreview, and changing the sample icon's appearance according to theinputs for a new appearance received from a user. The program codefurther causes the display controller to change the icon appearance ofthe display system by updating the display properties according to theuser inputs.

It is to be understood that both the foregoing general description andthe following detailed description of the present invention areexemplary and explanatory and are intended to provide furtherexplanation of the invention as claimed.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The accompanying drawings, which are included to provide a furtherunderstanding of the invention and are incorporated in and constitute apart of this application, illustrate embodiment(s) of the invention andtogether with the description serve to explain the principle of theinvention. In the drawings;

FIG. 1 illustrates a display system for controlling an icon appearanceaccording to the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a flow chart illustrating a method of controlling an iconappearance used by the display controller shown in FIG. 1 according tothe present invention;

FIG. 3A and FIG. 3B illustrate example sub-steps of each step shown inFIG. 2 in detail;

FIG. 4 illustrates a first example of an icon control window accordingto the present invention;

FIG. 5 illustrates a second example of an icon control window (NormalMode) according to the present invention;

FIG. 6 illustrates a third example of an icon control window accordingto the present invention;

FIG. 7 illustrates a fourth example of an icon control window accordingto the present invention; and

FIG. 8 illustrates the icon control window shown in FIG. 5 in AdvancedMode.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

Reference will now be made in detail to the preferred embodiments of thepresent invention, examples of which are illustrated in the accompanyingdrawings. Wherever possible, the same reference numbers will be usedthroughout the drawings to refer to the same or like parts.

FIG. 1 illustrates a display system for controlling an icon appearanceaccording to the present invention. The display system may be any one ofcomputer systems including workstations, desktop computers, laptopcomputers, and personal data processing devices such as Personal DigitalAssistants (PDAs) and palmtop computing devices. Referring to FIG. 1,the display system includes a user interface unit 10, an applicationunit 20, a display controller 30, a memory unit 40 including a firstmemory 40 a and a second memory 40 b, and a display unit 50 having adisplay screen. The user interface unit 10 may be any one of user-inputdevices including keyboards, mouses, and touch pads. The applicationunit 20 may be a computer control program that causes the displaycontroller 30 to display an icon control window on the display screen,receive inputs from a user through the icon control window, and performicon control functions according to the received inputs. In addition,the controller 30 may be a processor (e.g., microprocessor) thatcontrols the display unit 50, the memory unit 40, and the applicationunit 20, and it may control other devices connected to the displaysystem through system buses. The first and second memories 40 a and 40 bof the memory unit 40 may include Read-Only Memories (ROMs), RandomAccess Memories (RAMs), magnetic disks, magnetic tapes, optical disks,and other data-storage devices. The display unit 50 shown in FIG. 1 maybe any one of cathode ray tub (CRT) displays and flat panel displaysincluding liquid-crystal displays (LCDs) and plasma display panels(PDPs).

FIG. 2 is a flow chart illustrating a method used by the displaycontroller 30 for changing an icon appearance of the display systemshown in FIG. 1 according to the present invention. As shown in FIG. 2,the method include four steps. The first step is to back up theicon-related display properties of the display system, which are set tothe original icon appearance of the display system, in the memory unit40 (S1). Next, the second step is to display an icon control windowincluding one or more sample icons upon receiving a user's request (S2).The third step of the method shown in FIG. 2 is to change the sampleicon's appearance in accordance with the user's inputs received throughthe icon control window (S3). The step of backing up the originaldisplay properties may be performed just before performing step S3. Whenthe user finally determines a desired icon appearance and enters anexecution command, the icon appearance of the display system is changedaccording to the user inputs by changing the display properties of thedisplay system (S4). The user inputs may include at least one of an iconsize, icon font type, icon font size, horizontal icon spacing, andvertical icon spacing. Any icons that are displayed on the displayscreen will conform to the newly selected icon appearance.

Reference will now be made to the detailed sub-steps of each step shownin FIG. 2, examples of which are illustrated in FIG. 3A and FIG. 3B. Forexample, Steps S101 to S107 shown in FIG. 3A belong the displayproperties backup step S1 in FIG. 2. First, the display controller 30shown in FIG. 1 reads the icon display properties of the display system,which are set for an original icon appearance of the display system,using an application program interface (API) function such as systemparameter information (SPI) (S100) and determines whether the propertyvalues are valid using a display properties table of the display system(S101). If the property values are determined to be valid, thecontroller 30 generates a registry subkey in the first memory 40 a ofthe memory unit 40 (S102) and backs up the valid property values in theregistry using the API function (S103). On the other hand, if theproperty values are determined to be invalid in step S101, thecontroller 30 changes the invalid property values to valid values (S104)and performs steps S102 and S103. Next, the controller 30 furtherdetermines whether the valid values are successfully backed up (S105).If the backup has been failed, the controller 30 outputs error messagesto the display unit 50 (S106) and deletes the registry subkey generatedin the first memory 40 a in step S102 (S107).

If the backup is successfully completed, step S2 of the method shown inFIG. 2 will be performed. Steps S108 to S113 correspond to step S2. Instep S108, the controller 30 receives a request for displaying an iconcontrol window from a user through the user interface unit 10. Next, thecontroller 30 reads the icon display properties of the display system(S109) and determines the property values are valid (S110). If theproperty values are determined to be valid, the controller 30 displaysan icon control window that maps with the valid property values on thedisplay screen of the display unit 50 (S111). On the other hand, if theproperty values are determined to be invalid in step S110, thecontroller 30 changes the invalid values to valid values (S112) anddisplays an icon control window that maps with the changed propertyvalues (S111).

FIG. 4 illustrates a first example of the icon control window that thedisplay controller 30 displays on the display unit 50 in step S111.Referring to FIG. 4, the control window includes a plurality of sampleicons having different sizes, one of which is identical to the currenticon size of the display system. Using the icon control window shown inFIG. 4, a user is able to compare the available icon sizes with thecurrent icon size and to select a desired icon size by selecting acorresponding icon. Then the controller 30 changes the icon size of thedisplay system according to the icon size selected by the user from thecontrol window. The desired icon size may be selected by the user by anyone of the input devices including keyboards, mouses, and touch pads.

FIG. 5 illustrates a second example of the icon control window that thecontroller 30 displays on the display unit 50 according to the presentinvention. As shown in FIG. 5, the icon control window includes an iconsize controller, a preview region, a plurality of execution controllers,and a mode change controller (Advance Mode button).

The icon size controller of the control window enables a user to selecta desired size of one or more sample icons included in the previewregion by providing a sliding bar with minimum and maximum sample iconsizes. The size of the sample icons varies as the user moves the sizeindicator within the sliding bar. The minimum and maximum sample iconsizes of the sliding bar must be selected from the size range supportedby the display system. In addition, FIG. 6 illustrates a third exampleof the icon control window according to the present invention, in whichthe icon size controller includes a plurality of selectable buttonscorresponding to different icon sizes. The user may simply select one ofthe buttons using any one of keyboards, mouses, and touch pads forselecting a desired sample icon size. FIG. 7 illustrates a fourthexample of the icon control window according to the present invention,in which the icon size controller includes a plurality of selectabletoggle buttons representing different icon sizes. When the user selectsa desired sample icon size from the selectable sizes using the icon sizecontroller shown in FIG. 5, FIG. 6, or FIG. 7, the size of the sampleicons included in the preview region of the control window isautomatically changed in accordance with the selected sample icon size.

The execution controllers of the control windows shown in FIG. 5 to FIG.7 interface with the display system in order to change the iconappearance of the display system in accordance with the sample icon sizeselected by the user through the icon size controller. The executioncontrollers include Apply, Cancel, Reset, and Ok buttons. When the Applybutton is selected, the controller 30 temporarily stores the displayproperties of the display system that correspond to the current iconappearance of the display system, and it changes the display propertiesaccording to a new icon size selected by the user through the icon sizecontroller. Thereafter, when the Cancel button is selected, thecontroller 30 further changes the changed display properties to thetemporarily stored display properties. In addition, when the Resetbutton is selected, the controller 30 changes the display properties tothe values that were originally backed up before a program for the iconcontrol window was installed. Furthermore, when the Ok button isselected, the controller 30 changes the icon display properties of thedisplay system according to the selected icon size.

The icon control windows shown in FIG. 5 to FIG. 7 further include amode change controller (Advance Mode button), which enables the user tohave an option for manually inputting at least one of a desired iconsize, icon font type, icon font size, and horizontal and vertical iconspacing. For example, when the user selects the Advance Mode buttonshown in FIG. 5, the control window may further display a Manual Inputbutton and a plurality of manual input controllers as shown in FIG. 8.The control window may further include other display settings such asresolution as shown in FIG. 8. When the Manual Input button is selected(Manual Mode), the plurality of manual input controllers is activatedand the user is able to manually enter inputs for a new icon appearancethrough the manual input controllers. The plurality of manual inputcontrollers include controllers for setting icon size, icon font size,horizontal icon spacing, vertical icon spacing, icon font type,caption-bar-font type, and menu-bar-font type.

Referring back to FIG. 3A, steps S113 to S118 correspond to S3 shown inFIG. 2, which is the step of changing the sample icon's appearanceaccording the user inputs. After the icon control window is displayed onthe display screen of the display unit 50 in step S111, the controller30 determines whether the icon control window is set to Normal Mode orAdvance Mode by checking whether the Advance Mode button of the controlwindow is selected (S113). If the Advance mode button is not selected(Normal Mode), the controller 30 determines whether a desired icon sizeis received from the user through the icon size controller of the iconcontrol window (S114). If it is, the controller 30 changes the sampleicon's appearance according to the selected icon size (S115). Otherwise,the controller 30 repeats steps S113 and S114 until an icon size isreceived.

On the other hand, if the Advance Mode button is selected (AdvanceMode), the controller 30 expands the icon control window and furtherdisplays a Manual Input button and a plurality of manual inputcontrollers in the expanded area of the control window (S116). Theplurality of manual input controllers include controllers for manuallyreceiving icon-related user inputs including at least one of an iconsize, icon font size, icon spacing (horizontal and vertical), icon fonttype, caption-bar-type, and menu-bar-font type. Thereafter, thecontroller 30 determines whether the Manual Input button is selected(S117). If the Manual Input button is selected (Manual Mode), theplurality of manual input controllers is activated and the controller 30determines whether the icon-related parameters are manually receivedthrough the manual input controllers of the control window (S118). Ifthey are, then the controller 30 changes corresponding one of the iconsize, icon font size, icon spacing, icon font type, caption-bar-type,and menu-bar-font type of the sample icons according to the icon-relatedparameter values received through the manual input controllers (S115).However, if it is determined in step S118 that none of the icon-relatedparameter values are received, the controller 30 repeats steps beginningfrom step S113 as shown in FIG. 3A. In addition, if it is determined instep S117 that the Manual Input button is not selected, the manual inputcontrollers are not activated and the controller 30 repeats stepsstarting from S114.

FIG. 3B illustrates steps S119 to S124 which correspond to the step ofadjusting the icon appearance of the display system shown in FIG. 2. Ifthe controller 30 determines in step S119 that the user has selected theOK button of the icon control window, it converts the user-selectedparameters to corresponding parametric values (S120) and determineswhether the converted values are within the predetermined range ofvalues supported by the display system (S121). If they are, thecontroller 30 changes the icon appearance of the display system bychanging the icon display properties of the display system according tothe user-selected parameters (S122). On the other hand, if it isdetermined in step S121 that the converted parametric values are notsupported by the display system, the controller 30 outputs errormessages to the display screen of the display unit 50 (S123) and repeatsthe steps staring from S113. After the icon appearance of the displaysystem is changed in step S122, the controller 30 determines whether toterminate the process of controlling the icon appearance (S124). If itdecides to terminate the process, it terminates the process andundisplays the icon control window. Otherwise, it repeats the stepsstaring from step S113 as shown in FIG. 3B.

Next, if the controller 30 determines in step S125 that the user hasselected the Apply button, it temporarily stores the current displayproperties of the display system corresponding to the current iconappearance in the second memory 40 b of the memory unit 40 (S126) andperforms the steps beginning from S120. In addition, if the controller30 determines in step S127 that the user has selected the Cancel button,the controller 30 further determines whether the user has previouslyselected the Apply button (S128). If the user has, the controller 30converts the display properties temporarily stored in the second memory40 b in step S126 to corresponding parametric values (S129). Next, thecontroller 30 changes the icon appearance of the display systemaccording to the converted parametric values (S122) and performs thefollowing steps. On the other hand, if it is determined in step S128that the Apply button has not been selected, the controller 30 skipsstep S122 and perform S 124.

Next, if the controller 30 determines in step S127 that the Cancelbutton is not selected, it further determines whether the Reset buttonis selected (S130). If it has, the controller 30 converts the originalicon display properties, which correspond to the original iconappearance and are backed up in the registry in step S103, tocorresponding parametric values (S131). Then it changes the iconappearance of the display system according to the parametric values(S122) and performs the following steps. However, if the controller 30determines in step S130 that the Reset button is not selected by theuser, it performs the steps starting from S113.

As shown above, the display system and method according to the presentinvention enable a user to easily change an icon appearance of thedisplay system, which includes at least one of an icon size, icon fontsize, icon font type, horizontal icon spacing, and vertical iconspacing. The method used by the display controller 30 of the displaysystem according to the present invention may be achieved by executing acomputer-readable medium storing program code for controlling an iconappearance of the display system. The computer program code according tothe present invention may be stored in any one of the computer-readablemedia including Read-Only Memories (ROMs), Random Access Memories(RAMs), magnetic disks, magnetic tapes, and optical disks. When executedby the display controller 30, the program code will perform each step ofthe method according to the present invention.

It will be apparent to those skilled in the art that variousmodifications and variations can be made in the present inventionwithout departing from the spirit or scope of the inventions. Thus, itis intended that the present invention covers the modifications andvariations of this invention provided they come within the scope of theappended claims and their equivalents.

1. A method for providing preview function in a computing device, themethod comprising: displaying an icon control window on a screen of themobile computing device, wherein the icon control window comprises allof first option for changing at least one icon size, second option forchanging a grid spacing and third option for changing a text size;selecting the first option for changing at least one icon size, whereinthe first option has a sliding bar; changing an original size of atleast one icon into new size of the at least one icon depending on aposition of an indicator within the sliding bar; and displaying the atleast one icon having the changed size in a preview region of the samescreen, wherein the at least one icon is pre-stored in a memory of thecomputing device.
 2. The method of claim 1, further comprising:selecting the second option for changing a grid spacing, wherein thegrid spacing defines a distance between first icon and second icon basedon a horizontal axis and a vertical axis; changing an original distanceinto new distance between the first icon and the second icon; anddisplaying the at least one icon according to said new distance, whereinthe at least one icon is pre-stored in a memory of the computing device.3. The method of claim 2, further comprising: selecting the third optionfor changing a text size, wherein the text represents a titlecorresponding to the at least one icon; changing an original text sizeinto new text size of the at least one icon; and displaying the at leastone icon having the changed text size, wherein the at least one icon ispre-stored in a memory of the computing device.
 4. The method of claim3, wherein the indicator within the sliding bar is movable only betweenminimum value and maximum value.
 5. The method of claim 4, wherein thesecond displaying step performs only if corresponding display propertyparameter values of the new icon size are within a predetermined rangeof values supported by the computing device.
 6. The method of claim 1,wherein the computing device provides fourth option for controlling amenu bar or a caption bar.
 7. The method of claim 1, wherein a commandfor performing the icon control window is received via an user interfaceunit.
 8. The method of claim 7, wherein the user interface unitcorresponds to at least one a keyboard, a mouse or a touch-pad.
 9. Themethod of claim 1, wherein the computing device corresponds to a laptop,a PDA(Personal Digital Assistant) or a mobile data processing unit. 10.A computing device for providing preview function, the mobile computingdevice: a memory configured to store at least one icon; a display unitconfigured to output an icon control window on a screen of the mobilecomputing device, wherein the icon control window comprises both firstoption for changing the at least one icon size and second option forchanging a grid spacing; an user interface unit configured to select thefirst option for changing at least one icon size, wherein the firstoption has a sliding bar; and a display controller configured to changean original size of the at least one icon into new size of the at leastone icon depending on a position of an indicator within the sliding bar,and to control the display unit of displaying the at least one iconhaving the changed size in the same screen.
 11. The computing device ofclaim 10, wherein the icon control window further comprises third optionfor changing a text size.
 12. The computing device of claim 11, when theuser interface unit selects the second option for changing a gridspacing of defining a distance between first icon and second icon basedon a horizontal axis and a vertical axis, the display controller changesan original distance into new distance between the first icon and thesecond icon, and controls the display unit of displaying the at leastone icon according to said new distance.
 13. The computing device ofclaim 12, when the user interface unit selects the third option forchanging a text size, the display controller changes an original textsize into new text size of the at least one icon, and controls thedisplay unit of displaying the at least one icon having the changed textsize.
 14. The computing device of claim 13, wherein the indicator withinthe sliding bar is movable only between minimum value and maximum value.15. The computing device of claim 14, wherein the display controllerperforms only if corresponding display property parameter values of thenew icon size are within a predetermined range of values supported bythe computing device.
 16. The computing device of claim 11, wherein thecomputing device provides fourth option for controlling a menu bar or acaption bar.
 17. The computing device of claim 11, wherein a command forperforming the icon control window is received via the user interfaceunit.
 18. The computing device of claim 17, wherein the user interfaceunit corresponds to at least one a keyboard, a mouse or a touch-pad. 19.The computing device of claim 11, wherein the computing devicecorresponds to a laptop, a PDA(Personal Digital Assistant), a mobiledata processing unit or a mobile phone.